Field of Greens

A thriving garden of fresh, healthy vegetables doesn’t take a lot of work. Create your own “Easy Garden” in 7 easy steps.

Who doesn’t enjoy a tasty dish of mustard and collard greens? And don’t forget about kale!

Leafy green vegetables are actually some of the easiest and most productive crops that a gardener can grow. The plants require very little care and they are a magnificent source of vitamins A, C, B, and K. They are also rich in antioxidants, cholesterol lowering fiber and cancer fighting phyto-nutrients. Finally, they just taste great!

Take these steps to create your own patch of backyard “field of greens.”

Step 1:

The first thing to do is to decide which type of garden you would like. I would recommend some type of raised garden bed. These are simple to construct and relatively easy to maintain. In fact they are sometimes referred to as the “Lazy Gardener’s” bed.

Step 2:

Determine where to place your garden in your yard. Most vegetables require either full or partial sun.

Materials: • Cardboard or newspaper • 24 Cinder blocks • Garden soil • Seeds

Step 3:

Determine the dimensions of your raised garden bed. The ideal width is four feet. This allows one to plant multiple rows and still maintain the ability to reach all of the bed from the edges.

Step 4:

Arrange the cinder blocks so that the interior is four feet wide.

Step 5:

Lay either cardboard or newspaper to form the base of your raised bed. This base helps to smother out grass and weeds by blocking access to sunlight. If you choose newspaper, then be sure to lay down at least 6 layers of paper. The newspaper sections have to overlap one another, leaving no spaces, and they have to extend beyond the border of the cinder blocks. Wet the newspaper or card board base to help to keep it in place until the soil is added to the bed.

Step 6:

Fill your raised bed with quality garden soil. The soil should be at least 8 inches deep to allow for healthy plant roots. A 4’ x 10’ garden will require one cubic yard of dirt. You can purchase soil by the yard from a local landscape company or by the bag from a large chain store. If you choose to purchase the soil by the bag, you will need about 27 bags.

Step 7:

If you are planting greens, sow seeds directly in to the soil about 1/4 inch deep. You should plant about three seeds every foot or so. Thin the seedlings to one plant per square foot when they are four inches tall. Water every three days and get your smoked turkey wings ready! You’ll enjoy a wonderful, nutritious harvest in five to six weeks.